This invention relates to a discharge indicating means for a storage battery, with a choke and a first transistor connected in series with the storage battery, with the base of the first transistor being periodically controlled, with a load energized by the storage battery, and with an indicating device connected in parallel with the collector-emitter circuit of the first transistor.
Circuit arrangements of this type are used if the indicating device requires an operating voltage higher than the battery voltage. If, for example, the source of energy is a single-cell storage battery and the indicating device is a light-emitting diode, the battery voltage has to be raised to about 2 volts. Such arrangements are also referred to as direct-current step-up arrangements or step-up switching controllers.
A step-up switching controller of this type is known, for example, from the "Elektronik" journal, No. 26/85 of Dec. 27, 1985, pp. 57 to 59. In the step-up switching controller illustrated therein, the switching transistor is controlled by means of a switching controller including an oscillator, that is, the switching transistor or the entire arrangement operates under external control.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a discharge indicating means for a storage battery which requires a small number of components and is characterized by high operational safety and ease of handling.